I've been shooting (live switching actually) in a recording studio a lot recently, and we're trying to figure out a way to integrate timecode from my ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K switcher into the audio recordings. And if that isn't easy, at least give the recording engineer a screen where he can see timecode and manually mark his files so it's easier to match the recordings with the video later on.

As mentioned, my ATEM switcher is generating timecode and is outputting it over the SDI outputs, and I can see that timecode when recording on my HyperDeck recorders, but I can't seem to find anything else that will display it. Or convert it to something that Pro Tools can recognize.

(Oddly, I used to see timecode on my Teranex Mini converters with the LCD display option, but that doesn't seem to work any longer.)

I read somewhere else on the forums that the timecode jacks on the switcher don't do anything. Is that actually true?

The switcher should be giving you 2 flavors of TC output. RP188 over SDI and SMPTE/LTC from the XLR output. If you want to test the output of the XLR just plug it into a mixer, if the sound makes you want to rip your ears out, that's SMPTE.

Getting RP188 into ProTools is going to depend on the hardware IO, you may need a device that will convert RP188 to LTC. If your engineer can't get LTC into ProTools it's time to look for another engineer.

I'm passing video from my switcher to a BMD Studio Converter 2, and then sending the video over fiber into the facility, where it is converted back to SDI. Based on my testing, it looks like the timecode is stripped from the SDI signal by the Studio Converter, as it does appear on the input, but not on the fiber outputs.

To verify that it is the Studio Converter doing this, I also tried using an Optical Fiber converter, and it passes timecode just fine.

In other words, there won't be a way for me to convert to LTC inside the facility as long as I used the Studio Converter to do the fiber conversion.

can you tell me how the switcher generates timecode? Where in the settings can you set the clock for example? I've been using Ambient Timecode Nanolockits to generate and distribute TC on my 4k 4M/E fro about a year now

great, thanks for the info. Upgraded now from an ATEM 1M/E to the Broadcast 4M/E. Now feeding the timecode from a ConvergentDesign Apollo we use for recording into the ATEM with a custom made BNC to XLR cable (and from there to three Hyperdecks). Works like a charm. Finally matching timecode on all recorders.

EDIT: Follow-Up Question. Is there any way to pick a specific audio channel for one AUX line? (as in, not have Program audio on all AUX lines?)

I am looking at using an ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K with three Hyperdeck Sudio Pro decks for recording. Two of the Hyperdecks will connect to aux outputs via HD-SDI and the third to the program HD-SDI output.

From what I have read, the ATEM will generate and embedded TC out on the HD-SDI outputs to allow the three recordings to be lock together in post for editing? No external hardware is required to generate TC to input to the Hyperdecks?

djackson115 wrote:I am looking at using an ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K with three Hyperdeck Sudio Pro decks for recording. From what I have read, the ATEM will generate and embedded TC out on the HD-SDI outputs to allow the three recordings to be lock together in post for editing? No external hardware is required to generate TC to input to the Hyperdecks?

Yes, the ATEM 1 M/E 4K will begin generating timecode at startup and will embed this timecode on the AUX and SDI Program outputs.

With ATEM software version 8.0 or higher you can set the starting timecode value (and restart the built-in timecode generator) through the ATEM Software Control Panel. Since this ATEM model doesn't have an external timecode input, that can make it difficult to sync to an external timecode source (such as the internal recording on a camera, a standalone audio recorder, or dedicated timecode generator).

But everything should work fine as long as the video you want to record comes from one of the ATEM's SDI Program or AUX outputs. You will just have to make sure that you set your HyperDeck Studio Pro's to use the SDI input as the timecode source (rather than the external timecode over the XLR connector that is also supported on these units).